From Croatan Earth First!:

“Join us in the capital to march through downtown Raleigh and raise awareness about the resistance to fracking in North Carolina.  We’ll be at Nash Square (200 McDowell St) around 11:30 a.m. and  around 12 noon marching to the Legislative Building at 16 West Jones Street.  We encourage folks to bring musical instruments: drums, violins, trumpets, colorful banners and signs, puppets… anything that will make this fun.  The march is family friendly and fully permitted.  If your group would like to officially sign onto the march as a co-sponsor contact us at dontfracknc@riseup.net or call 919-200-0061 for more details.  We encourage everyone to share this event on their facebook or on listserves they are on.  This date is within the legislative session that begins in May where legislators plan to legalize fracking and wastewater injection in our state despite public outcry.  This also happens on the heels of a massive blowout in Wyoming at a Chesapeak Enegy drill site where 70 residents within a 5 mile radius had to be evacuated.  It’s time to let legislators and industry know we won’t let this happen here.  See you in the streets!

“This event is also cosponsored by Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League & Cumnock Preservation Association.”

Fracking, short for “hyrdaulic fracturing,” is a controversial and highly toxic mining method in which high  volumes of water, sand and undisclosed chemicals are blasted into the bedrock to break it apart and allow extraction of petroleum and natural gas.

Communities concerned about the Enbridge 9 Tar Sands Pipeline, which would pass through Ontario, Vermont and Maine, are invited to a People’s Hearing in London, Ontario on May 23-25 (exact dates tentative; check official site for updated details):

“We are inviting any interested individuals, groups, and organizations to participate in a People’s Hearing on a tar sands pipeline project through Ontario. This People’s Hearing is a community-based response to this Enbridge project, and the illegitimate and anti-democratic review process which is underway.

“The official hearings will take place in London, Ontario on May 23rd and May 24th. There also may be hearings on May 25th.

“For the People’s Hearing, we are accepting: (a) online statements, videos, or audio recordings; or (b) in-person statements in London, Ontario in late May. The Hearing in London tentatively is scheduled on Wednesday, May 23rd. The schedule and location will be posted on this blog site.”

Another proposed Enbridge Pipeline would transport oil from the Alberta Tar Sands to the coast of British Columbia.

From the Earth First! Newswire:

“Hundreds of people converged in Charlotte, NC on May 9 to protest Bank of America’s (BoA) annual shareholders meeting. Activists from Appalachia fighting mountaintop removal coal mining joined forces with housing rights activists, unions, immigrant rights groups, and the Occupy movement to call for an end to BoA’s destructive practices. Bank of America is the largest funder of the coal industry and also is a leader in home foreclosures. …

“When the marches arrived at the entrance to the shareholders meeting, the crowd swarmed the intersection, shutting it down for two hours. 5 people were arrested, some trying to force their way into the shareholders meeting. …”

British activists are calling for the occupation of Shell gas stations around the world on May 22 in protest of the company’s destructive policies, particularly its involvement in Rossport, Ireland; the Niger Delta; and the Alberta Tar Sands.

The proposed (and notorious) Keystone Pipeline would transport petroleum extracted from the Alberta Tar Sands to the United States.

The first “Occupy Oil” event was held on February 8. For more information, click here.

From CommonDreams.org:

Hundreds of First Nations protesters and supporters descended upon Toronto [yesterday] to protest Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline project, which would transport tar sands crude from Alberta to the British Columbia coast.

Representatives of the Yinka Dene Alliance, made up of First Nations groups in British Columbia opposed to Enbridge’s pipeline, left Vancouver on a “Freedom Train” on April 30 and headed to the meeting in Toronto to highlight their opposition to the tar sands plan.

“It is not about money, it is about our way of life,” said Chief Jackie Thomas of the Saik’uz First Nation.

“We won’t expose our grandchildren to the risk of an oil spill,” Chief Thomas said.

Rabble.ca reports that “twenty-five per cent of the proposed 1177-kilometre pipeline route is on the Yinka Dene Alliance’s territories, which surround the headwaters of the Fraser, Skeena and Mackenzie watersheds.”

Hereditary Chief Tso Dih of BC’s Nak’azdli Band, who is on the Freedom Train, said, “Enbridge’s pipelines and oil supertankers aren’t in Canada’s interest, and we’ll do Canadians a favor by putting a stop to them.”

The protest took place at Enbridge’s annual meeting.

No Fracking!

Cross-posted from the Earth First! Newswire:

LANSING – An auction of state-owned oil and gas rights on 109,000 acres across lower Michigan, including Oakland County, was briefly disrupted [yesterday] morning by anti-drilling demonstrators.

One protester, who stood up as bids were being taken and began to talk over the auctioneer, was taken into custody for disturbing the peace.

A group of 50-100 protesters picketed outside the state building where the auction was being held, many of them from Barry County, where much of the acreage being offered today is located. The focus of much of their opposition is to a drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, which leads to contamination of water resources.

After the auction got under way, a group of demonstrators circled the building to an area outside of the auction room and began to chant and pound on makeshift drums and windows. After about 30 minutes, state and city police moved them to a sidewalk about 40 feet from the building.

Inside, several other demonstrators were escorted from the room after standing up and loudly objecting to the proceedings. One person was led away by conservation officers as she shouted, “We need to ban fracking!”

Several other anti-drilling activists registered to bid in the auction, and said they hoped to be able to purchase some of the leases and prevent development.

A protest against land grabs in the Peruvian Amazon, London, June 2009

Secretive talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership began in Dallas today. The TPP is likely to become the biggest free trade agreement in US history, dwarfing even the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Currently, the TPP already includes the countries of Chile, Brunei, New Zealand and Singapore. The US, Peru, Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam are currently negotiating for entry into the pact, and Japan and China may follow soon after.

To learn more about the TPP, including its most egregious provisions (which we know of only from leaked documents), read Public Citizen’s page on the agreement. Some of the most relevant clauses from our perspective would:

• Allow companies to acquire land, natural resources or factories without government review. This is particularly notable in light of recent resource battles in the Peruvian Amazon and elsewhere.

• Increase corporate access to strategic industrial materials by forcing governments to financially compensate them for any “future lost profits” caused by new environmental, labor or other regulations.

These ongoing negotiations show that in spite of setbacks suffered in the pursuit of large free trade agreements, these concerns are still very high on the corporate-government agenda. The secret nature of the negotiations highlights the limitations of working within the system to stop these power and resource grabs—particularly when the system itself is the problem.

From GatewaySucks.org:

People’s Assembly and Mass Direct Action! Help Build the Movement for
Climate Justice: Tue. Dec. 7 & Sat. Dec. 11

The World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of
Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia in April 2010 brought together social movements from all over the world to forge a powerful new movement for Climate Justice.

Heads of government will meet in Cancun November 29 to December 10 for talks about the climate crisis. At the same time, people all over the world will take action against climate crimes like freeway building and to support the “People’s Agreement” created at Cochabamba. It’s time for the people to lead – and to make the leaders follow!

People’s Assembly on Climate Justice
Tuesday December 7, 2010 at 7 pm
SFU Segal Centre (Rooms 1400-1410)
555 W. Hastings St. Vancouver

Mass Direct Action for Climate Justice
Saturday December 11, 2010 at 12 noon
Starting at Waterfront Skytrain Station (Howe Street exit)

Ashanika warriors occupy oil boat May 2009

A documentary is in production tracing the struggle by indigenous Amazonians in Peru to defend their land against infrastructure and other industrial megaprojects, told through the lens of indigenous leader Alberto Pizango:

“Against the backdrop of global recession and climate crisis, When Two Worlds Collide traces the heroic journey of a young indigenous leader. Forced into exile for resisting the sale and commercial exploitation of Amazonian lands, Alberto Pizango’s efforts shed new light on the ferocious battle for the world’s most precious natural resources. Falsely accused of insurrection and sedition by the Peruvian Government, he faces 20-years in prison. After almost a year in exile, Pizango returns to Peru to face trial and discovers himself nominated for presidential candidacy. In the April 2011 elections, he will run as the first Amazonian candidate in history. This feature-length documentary follows the Amazonians in their quest against all odds to save the rainforest and campaign to elect their leader as president of Peru. This extraordinary story reveals the human side of an apocalyptic battle of conflicting visions and political wills working to shape the future of the Amazon’s ecosystem and our world.”

To learn more about the documentary, watch the trailer, or donate to help cover production costs, click here. You can also visit the web site of the film company, Yachaywasi Films.

For more background on the indigenous struggle, see below.

Previous Articles on the Peruvian Amazon:

Peru Update: Continuing Infrastructure Threat to Amazonian Indigenous Nations (July 8, 2010)

Temporary Resolution in Peru Conflict Following Government Reversal (June 19, 2009)

Week of Action in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Peru (June 12, 2009)

Upcoming Peru Solidarity Protests (June 10, 2009)

Peru Update: Take Action! (June 7, 2009)

Action Alert: Stop Peruvian Infrastructure Push! (June 5, 2009)

Peruvian Police Murder Indigenous Protesters: Take Action! (June 5, 2009)

Peru Indigenous Holding Strong in Standoff (June 3, 2009)

Peru Indigenous In Standoff With Government (May 22, 2009)

Perenco to Drill for Oil in Territory of Uncontacted Indigenous (January 7, 2009)

Peru Indigenous Issue Oil Ultimatum (October 22, 2008)

Indigenous Victory in Peru! (August 24, 2008)

Temporary Truce in Indigenous Peru Standoff (August 21, 2008)

Peru Declares Martial Law Over Indigenous Protests (August 18, 2008)

Oil Pipeline Shut Down by Ongoing Peru Protests (August 17, 2008)

Indigenous Peruvians Seize Energy Infrastructure (August 12, 2008)

Check out reportbacks from the Global Week of Action for Climate Justice (which ran concurrently with the Third Global Minga/Global Mobilization in Defense of Mother Earth and the Peoples).